okiride

Hi all,

Rather excited about getting my first road bike.

I have found myself a road bike which needs some work.
I couldn't attached the photo from my smart phone for some reason?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/grwppsd3oy...35306.jpg?dl=0

From what I can see this is what needs doing to get it on the road.

- Rear wheel is wobbling, looks like it is coming from the axle. What would need fixing here?
- Moving moving the brake levers, can these be moved? I can't see where to loosen them from?
- Good clean and grease.
- a few spokes on the front wheel need replacing. How is this done?

Do you have any advice on bike tools? I have basic tools, spanners, etc . however what are the essential tools I will need?

Thanks everyone.

HillRider

The first, and most essential, "tool" is a good bike repair manual and/or a lot of time perusing Park Tool's and Sheldon Brown's web sites for their repair tutorials. Your questions are way too broad and non-specific for us to give any meaningful help until you can describe the problems in better detail and understand the answers.

Raiden

You've got some work ahead of you:
1: https://c.searspartsdirect.com/lis_pn...1188-00005.png this is approximately what your hubs look like inside. You need to remove the wheel and if needed, tighten the cones and locknuts against the ball bearings just right. You'll need a nice long 15mm socket or box wrench to loosen/tighten the outer axle nuts, then cone wrenches (bike specific flat open ended wrenches) to tighten the cones and locknuts. The needed sizes and number of wrenches depends on the specific hub.
2: You loosen the brake levers from the front- pull down on the lever and stick the wrench into the gap. You'll (usually, not always) need a 6mm allen wrench with a long tip and a lot of leverage. Sometimes the cable is in the way- you may have to slacken the cable somehow.
3: Any household dish or car cleaning chemicals are fine for cleaning a bike.
4: Spokes are a bit more advanced to get just right- Sheldon brown's Wheelbuilding page is good information to know.

Also learn how to repair flats. It's a necessary skill!

Parktool.com is a good place for mechanical walkthroughs, as is Sheldonbrown.com for lots of information.

RoadGuy

I hope you didn't pay much/anything for that bike. It seems to be a pretty low quality machine.

That being said, it's probably the perfect bike to own in a high risk environment.

Basic bike tools to get would include a set of cone wrenches (used on bikes for adjusting things like the bearing races (cones) on the wheels), tire levers(used to help get tires on and off the wheels), a set of allen wrenches, and a spoke wrench to fit the spoke nipples on your bike.

There are allen head screws/bolts that hold the brake levers on the handlebars. You access them by pressing the brake levers. In the gap in the front that appears when you press on the levers, you will be able to see the head of the allens that secure the brake levers. The btton tip of the brake levers on downturn handlebars are normally set to be level or even with the bottom edge of the handlebars. Place a yardstick along the bottom edge of the handlebars and line the bottom of the brake lever up.

To replace broken spokes, take the tire, tube and rimstrip off the wheel, and use a spoke wrench to remove one broken spoke. Take the broken spoke to a bike shop and get some matching ones that are made of the same material, and the same exact length. Get a couple of extra spoke nipples while you are at it, in case you damage some when you are removing them. You will have to learn to true the wheel (make it round) after you replace the spokes or pay the bike shop to do the truing after you replace the broken spokes.

I don't understand what you are trying to say about the out of true rear wheel. If you are trying to say that it has an up and down wobble that you can see when you spin the wheel, it could be bent, or it could need truing (adjusted by making the spokes tighter and/or looser). Take the bike to the shop when you go to get replacement spokes for the front wheel and ask them if the wheel is bent (and needs replacement) or just needs truing.

jimc101

Looks as though it need a lot of work, that bike looks like a money pit, it's just above a BSO from the look of it, would do the math on how much fixing it will cost, and then look at the price of a complete bike from Decathalon or Halfords, as suspect there won't be much in it, and you will get a much better bike from either of them.

jyl

If you want to learn how to fix bikes, this is a good one to learn on.

catonec 

that bike looks pretty rough, hopefully it was inexpensive.

as someone else has said. it is a very low end bike. the crank, rear derailleur, and use of grip shifters indicate that it may be a big box store bso (bicycle shaped object)

with that said you should weigh the costs of repair versus just buying something new from x-mart. I have never recommended this to anyone before but I can envision you spending a bunch of cash and time on this and not having anything better than this GMC Denali (which I expect this may be) 22.5" GMC Denali 700c Men's Road Bike, Black/Orange - Walmart.com

Now down to business. If you bring some wheels into a bike shop they will charge you about $25 per wheel to true it. If you need to replace spokes the costs will obviously increase. Lets say you luck out and they only charge you $10 per spoke installed. 2 wheels trued, 3 spokes replaced, were at $80 and now were assuming the rims are reusable and the bearings/free hub are ok. I would probably replace the wheelset with this Vuelta Corsa Pro Road Wheelset

moving your brake levers is easy enough. squeeze the lever and look inside the mechanism. you will see a large set screw on the bottom. no need to completely remove it, a few turns will suffice.

I like simple green for my cleaning needs. I also use baby wipes (I have a young child in the house). You can use a garden hose it you like but avoid blasting the headset and bottom bracket directly.

There are plenty of videos online ranging from building wheels, tuning your derailleurs, to wrapping new tape on your handlebars. lots to learn and consider. I would not put alot of cash into this bike.

If you do decide to abandon this project and buy something new checkout bikesdirect. $500 (sounds like alot huh) will get you a much nicer bike that will last forever.

RoadGuy

I forgot to mention...

It looks to me like the front fork is not the original one. In fact, it looks like it came off a mountain bike or hybrid bike of some sort. Before you invest any more money in that bike, I recommend that you find a video or print diagram of how the headset (steering bearing) should be put together and make sure that the fork is the right size, the headset has all of it's parts, and that it's assembled correctly.

If the fork doesn't fit the frame correctly and/or the headset is not the right part or missing pieces, I'd consider the bike to be a total, only good for whatever parts are worth salvaging, because getting a correct front fork and headset, then having them installed will cost more than that bike is worth.

Retro Grouch 

That's what I was thinking too. "Just do it!"

One of the nice things about bike repair is that it's possible to teach yourself with fairly limited resources. A lot of specialty tools aren't necessary so just dig in and acquire tools as you need them.

I suspect the rear wheel problem is due to a bent or broken axle. You'll need cone wrenches and a freewheel remover to fix it.

If it was my bike, I'd look for a used replacement front wheel. Used rear wheels in decent shape are hard to find. Fronts are much more common. Missing spokes tells me the rim is probably bent so just replacing the missing spokes probably isn't going fix it.

Don't allow yourself to get discouraged. Spending a little money to fix this bike is almost surely worth it. Think of it as an investment in yourself as you teach yourself a new skill.

Good luck.

okiride

Thanks everyone, ummm I negotiated it to £15 ($20ish dollars) and picked it up 5 mins away from where I live. Your right, this may well be a bad decision. However, looking on the bright side I have my first ever road bike so its a step forward at least.

It will be a good bike to learn maintenance on. I might even strip it down just to learn the ins and outs, then either put it back together and sell it on or sell as Spares.

I am not considering it as full use bike. Just something to learn on, i might not even ride it much at all.

sonatageek

For the price I think it is a great bike to work on and learn from. Good luck and let us see what the finished product comes out like.

SparkPlug

I got my 1980's Raleigh Winner for £20..

Raleigh Winner | eBay

Notice how they do not sell..

The term around these parts would be 'Beater Bike'.

£180 later, including *extra* tools, mistakes and a spare set of self re-spoked wheels courtesy of Sheldon and lurking on these forums, I have a,



'Beater Bike' that will not sell on Ebay and, all other caveats excluded including the 'I did it' one, it is a pleasure to ride.

mox

If I were you, the first thing I'd do is take some time to decide if you want to do your own repairs and maintenance in the future. If you do, as has been previously mentioned this will be a great bike to learn with. For most repairs, for what you'd pay someone to do it, you can buy the tools to do the job. For example, instead of paying $50 to get the wheels trued, you can buy a truing stand and do the job yourself. Not necessarily cost effective the first time around, but the next time you need your wheels trued, it will cost you nothing (excluding any replacement parts, off course). Another $150 will buy all the tools you'll need to do a complete bike build, including a torque wrench and homemade bearing press. Add a work stand and a tube of grease and you're good to go.

okiride

That's good to hear. I would pay abou this price for a bike book, nothing like hands on experience

Thanks for this! Why does this matter so much?

You made my day thanks

Yep, already decided this before buying this bike. Definitely want to do my own repairs and fixes. I have two little ones and want to get bike for them. Do all reoairs , adjustment's etc. So the more I learn the better.

I already have bsdic tools but need some bike specific ones. I am hinking if buying these.

Cone spanners
https://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...311520&alt=web

Freewheel remover
https://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...589131&alt=web

Good point about a stand. Any cost effective , space saving recommendations?

Thanks again everyone!

okiride

Might need this with the remover tool too

https://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...777110&alt=web

okiride

Could maybe just buy a bike tool kit?

https://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...050567&alt=web

RoadGuy

Having a the correct front fork affects the steering. The wrong front fork could be the wrong diameter, or it might not be fitted to the frame or have the wrong headset. All of which would/could result in a bike that is not safe to ride.

A proper set of cone wrenches has at least 7-9 different sizes (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 at the very least), and does not have double sizes on each end. Limited to four sizes, these might not have the sizes that you need to work on your bike. In many cases you will need two of the same size at the same time to loosen or tighten some fasteners. A well equipped shop will have two complete sets of cone wrenches. The cone wrenches that you linked to are inexpensive, emergency use, or occasional use tools, meant to be carried on a bike for field repairs. They are not precision tools, would have a higher chance of damaging the fasteners they are used on, and will not last long.

You have linked to a chainwhip as a freewheel remover. A chainwhip is one tool that can be used in conjunction with a freewheel or cassette removal tool to remove a freewheel or cassette from a rear wheel.

Do you have a freewheel or a freehub and cassette on your bike? If your bike has a freewheel on the rear wheel, you need a freewheel removal tool (different tools are used by different manufacturers to insert into the freewheel and unscrew it from the rear wheel using a wrench).

If your bike has a freehub and cassette, you need a cassette removal tool, and a chainwhip to remove the cassette from the rear wheel. The chainwhip is used to hold the cassette, and the cassette removal tool is inserted into the cassette and turned with a wrench to unscrew it from the wheel.

Bike tools are a necessity, a repair stand is a luxury. You can do most repairs with the bike sitting on the ground or hanging from the hook in the garage that you store your bike on. A repair stand will cost more that all the tools that you need combined. Get the tools first.

SparkPlug

+Yup. Tools, Tools, Tools and more Tools.. and the right Tools... and good Tools. Your tools will cost you more than your first project bike and if you hit another one, beyond what you have amassed, you will have to buy some more.

Example on the 'Beater Bike', I had to buy the right one to remove the fixed cup on the bottom bracket. £15 thank you very much but you spend it because it does the job slightly better than a monkey wrench, which would not do the job and mangle the part you are working on.

+Yup multiple cone wrenches and doubles and what he said about the quality of them in order to avoid mangling things. Of course that assumes they are not pre-mangled in the first place. You might also consider having an extra arm grafted on your body prior to bringing the 'little ones' up to speed.

And.. they are 'your' tools. Take care of them and do not lend them to others lest they become lost, bent or turned into rust.

cycle_maven

It's the right fork. That bike is a "GMC Denali", or its nearly exact equivalent. Their forks look like that. It seems to have been repainted, but that's no biggie.

This is a fine bike to learn mechanicin' on. You don't have a huge investment, and if you break something irreparably (unlikely), then you haven't lost much. Gosh, I've paid more than 15 pounds for a derailleur.

So it sounds like the main problems are the wheels. The front wheel needs some spokes and the rear wheel needs truing and something is wrong with its axle. For the front wheel, just buy a few spokes that are the right length. The local bike shop will have them for something like a dollar each. Bring a spoke in to measure from. You'll need a spoke wrench of the right size- the bike shop will also have one- about 5 bucks. Then plan to spend some quality time with the wheel- the three watchwords are tension, true and de-stress. You want a wheel with even tension, true radially and axially, and the spokes should be "bedded". Even tension is more important than being perfectly true. On a used wheel, the spokes won't need to be de-stressed.

Then you'll need to find out what's wrong with the rear wheel. For that you'll need some cone wrenches, or thin down some open-end wrenches on a grinder. Take out the axle- it should just come out when you undo the locknut and cone on the non-drive side. If it's bent, don't mess around- just get a new one from the LBS. Then tension and true the wheel. remember that the drive-side spokes will be tighter than the non-drive side spokes. Pluck them with a fingernail to find the pitch- it should be a lively ping and not a plunk sound.

Good luck, and before you know it you'll be an expert and giving advice here yourself.

Bustaknot

You're going to love working on this.

I just finished a tear down, cleaning and reassembly of a road bike and I'm so proud of myself and the bike. I can't help but show it off to friends who don't care It took me several months as I only worked on it during weekends and had to get a few parts replaced. But it was totally worth it and gave me some good "tinkering time" at home.

I already bought a new-used bike to work on this winter because I loved it so much!

okiride

Yes. I can how tools would be an important part of the process. I have a cycle hub at work where employees come along and use tools. Thanks for the advice SparkPlug.

Wow I had no idea what this was, seems your right cycle_maven. Here is probably what it used to look like.

https://waxturds.com/blog/wp-content/...4/kdk_0635.jpg

Awesome help, thanks. How often do you need to true wheels on a road bike. Not sure if it is with investing in tools to do this or get this done at the work hub/cycle shop?

Thanks . I hope so bustaknot. Of nothing else I have already and will learn so much from this bike. This might just be the best £15 I have spent on bikes, already just from what I have learnt from this forum regarding this bike is fantastic! Glad to hear you had such a good experience with yours.

okiride

Just on the rear wheel, it feels like play in the bearings. If the axle was bent I guess that would be obvious to see if I dismantle it.

Last time I dismantled a rear axle was the first time I ever did and got into a mess. Of course I didn't expect ball bearing to roll out every where, I should have looked at the schematic first.

I took it apart on my old mountain bike as I had this same problem of bearing play. The cycle hub at work helped me put it all back together and the bearing play had gone.

jyl

Wheels that are well built and not abused hardly ever need re-truing, but yours might need a few attempts to get there. The minimum tools required to true a wheel are a $5 spoke wrench, your investment will be time and a few $1 spokes. Put a drop of light oil on each spoke nipple the day before you start turning them, in case some are a little seized up. Make sure the wrench is the right size (there are three sizes of spoke wrench) and fits really snugly on the nipple, so you don't round the nipples off.

Also read these threads
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-me...ating-oil.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-me...-disaster.html

Kimmo

It's decent enough; that's a pretty good price for what you have here.

And wheel truing stands are a waste of money for beginners; buy tools you really need first. If you have a frame and fork to use, you don't need a wheel stand. Use the brakes and/or zipties as gauges, and flip the wheel to check for dish.

That is a road fork, evidenced by the fact there's minimal clearance around the tyre and the brake fits.

And 'front fork' is incorrect - it's just a fork, since there's no rear fork. At the back you have chainstays and seatstays.

Quick and dirty fix - carefully tighten the locknuts together (screw the two outer nuts inwards; the cones will likely turn as well instead of jamming), a little bit at a time, stopping to check for play. Because you have nutted axles, you want to stop just as some preload starts to occur, but before it gets tight enough to feel rough. If you tighten too far, then you'll need a cone wrench.

If you can't adjust the axle to be smooth, the cones have probably been pitted by use while poorly adjusted.

mickey1019

the main reason is the bearings, you can change it, or try to fix the bearings.then the tools also important.